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Highlights of 2008 China Cultural Tour |
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Once we arrived in Vietnam it was obvious what had held up our new guide. We could see the results of the typhoon, land slips being cleared, flooded villages, flattened rice crops and ever such a lot of racing brown water.
In Hanoi, our Hotel was on West Lake with a view across to the CBD. One of sightseeing experiences was the Water Puppets, performed in a theatre. Many of the houses in Vietnam have a large pond in front of them for fish and ducks, so the setting for the water puppets was very typical of rural Vietnamese life.
In Hanoi we experienced two torrential downpours which blocked out our view, one at the hotel whilst doing Tai Chi and another during our lunch.
At Tam Coc (in Ninh Binh Province) we had another water experience, being rowed along a river and passing through 3 very low grottoes. It was a peaceful journey, slightly interrupted by persistent sales people in other boats. I saw several rowers using their feet to row.
The highlight for me was our 4-hour trip on the junk on Ha Long Bay. The junk was a very comfortable way to explore the World Heritage site with its hundreds of islands and floating villages with their fish farms attached. The seafood banquet on board was delicious.
All too soon we reached our destination Cat Ba Island, which is one of the larger islands of the Bay. We stayed at a small resort called Sunrise Resort. We felt we could have stayed longer, but with another typhoon threatening and not wanting to miss the ferry connections, we had to leave.
Our last night in Ho Chi Minh City was on a boat on a short river cruise after the meal. So much water, it was indeed a highlight.
I’ll leave it to others to tell of the delicious meals, massages, shopping, caves, street life etc. All in all, it was a very rich experience, to practice Tai Chi in such exotic locations. See all the photos here ..
Karen Dupleix
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 January 2010 )
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